Why can’t a refrigerator be really cool?
Think about it. You finally can afford the kitchen of your dreams, a hard-working but attractive room where every prepared dish resembles a still-life painting. The warm Tuscan look already popular on the West Coast, seems perfect for your country-style house.
Pursuing the dream, you carefully select the perfect wood grains and finishes for the kitchen cabinets. You waver for a month over countertop surfaces, agonize over paint chips, go to five stores for the right floor tiles. An expert comes in to direct the lighting. You haunt antique shops for richly colored Italian majolica plates to display.
Then you go to the appliance store and find it’s a world of steel. It’s a sea of stainless. And if it’s not the slab of steel, the other choices are black, white or biscuit. It seems odd that one of the most expensive fixtures and largest surfaces in the kitchen receives little design attention.
To be sure, “stainless is still the fastest growing color segment on the market today,” says Christopher Hubbuch, manager of marketing communications for KitchenAid. (“White,” he adds, “is the largest.”) And manufacturers believe stainless steel is a modern classic that has found a lasting home in the kitchen.
But has it? Will the overkill in stainless cause it to become tomorrow’s avocado green?
Several designers and manufacturers have been thinking about this and doing something different in refrigerators–with other appliances following in its wake.
“The kitchen has finally caught up with the living room and bedroom in terms of the importance of style,” says Bill Deter, vice president of Jenn-Air, which recently introduced its Luxury Series, a line of built-in side-by-side refrigerators that can be personalized.
“People want kitchen appliances that reflect their personality,” he adds. “As the biggest item in the kitchen, the refrigerator’s appearance dominates a kitchen’s aesthetic. The ability to tailor that product to any design taste is crucial to many homeowners.”
The Luxury Series refrigerators allow owners to determine, in addition to interior storage options, exterior style in a variety of ways.There is the option of a stainless exterior. But at the heart of the focus on design is the option of a front panel that accepts decorative custom-made panels in a variety of colors and textures, says Deter. Sleek trim and full-length handles also blend in with kitchen cabinetry or overall decor.
But Jenn-Air’s Luxury line is just one of the ways homeowners can think outside the box when it comes to the biggest one in the kitchen.
One of the most attractive and innovative applications to come along is Out of Context’s “Art for Everyday Things,” a brand new line of appliance panels that debuted at the Kitchen and Bath Industry show in April, 2002. Out of Context is a privately held company based out of New City, N.Y., headed by husband-and-wife design team Barbara and Jonathan Hodosh. Their panels, custom-created by artists and craftsmen in a variety of materials, techniques and finishes, are intended to bring art into the kitchen in a marriage of form and function.
They look most spectacular on the expanse of the refrigerator, but are adaptable to other uses, such as a dishwasher, trash compactor, warming drawers or even wainscot paneling, says Barbara Hodosh.
Maria Winston’s papier-mache sculpture on canvas, “Somethin’ About A Cup of Coffee,” framed in a panel by Sean Relihan, was displayed on a Sub Zero 601R refrigerator in the New Product Pavilion of the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, prompting a re-routing of foot traffic to the company’s booth.
“We weren’t sure initially what the reaction would be, but people really responded to it,” says Jonathan Hodosh. “Whether they loved or hated it, the piece definitely got their attention and challenged their ideas about what a refrigerator could be, which is what we were trying to convey.”
Attendees were treated to many more works of art by emerging and established artists in Out of Context’s K&B booth, among them M. Kungl’s “Cafe Nitro” which was displayed on a Sub Zero 601R, the bold colors and striking design stopping show visitors in their tracks. With a list price around $500, this panel is one of the most popular of their line, which will be added to constantly, says Barbara Hodosh.
Out of Context offers its products exclusively through authorized dealers in the kitchen, cabinet, appliance, building and design industries.
Feeling blue
“Blue is supposed to be the big color of the decade,” says Brad Mee, author of “Kitchens,” the new book in his series, Design is in the Details, (Sterling, $27.95). Looks as though he is right.
Building on its introduction of three appliances offered in a striking blue at the 2001 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, KitchenAid began showing a full line of major appliances in its signature Cobalt Blue this year. When the first blue appliances were shown, people were saying, “It’s kind of cool,” and offering to buy the floor samples, says Christopher Hubbuch, manager of marketing communications for KitchenAid.
The recently introduced KitchenAid refrigerator in Cobalt Blue features a sleek, sculpted door, as well as more usable freezer space than current KitchenAid side-by-sides, and an advanced water filtration system.
“The use of color in appliances allows for greater flexibility in coordinating, enlivening and customizing home kitchens,” says Brian Maynard, director of integrated marketing for KitchenAid. “Whether coordinated or used as accents, Cobalt Blue appliances make a dramatic style statement.”
Among the other appliances offered in this distinctive high gloss blue is the Pro Line dual fuel range from the KitchenAid Architect Series. The series’ built-in ovens, countertop microwaves, undercounter trash compactor and an icemaker also will feature the Cobalt Blue finishes.
Out there and barely there
For those who say “I want my appliances to stand out in the kitchen,” says Hubbuch, the newest KitchenAid dishwashers can be found in Empire Red, Hunter Green and Majestic Yellow. However, for those sticking to the hard line, they are still available in standard stainless steel, white, black and biscuit.
For the opposing group, those who want appliances to “go away,” Kitchen Aid for a number of years has been offering panel-ready refrigerator doors that may be fitted with wood or laminate panels to match kitchen cabinetry, says Hubbuch. With these, “appliances literally disappear,” he says. “You get an integrated look with the panels on the appliances.”
Wood of the moment
Who says bamboo can be found only in the jungle? Or on the fashion front? Bamboo is hot today, a pattern inspiring everything from home decor to women’s fashion, even jewelry. Bulthaup, a leader in imaginative kitchen architecture, has adapted this trend for the kitchen. (World-renowned chef Emeril Lagasse’s personal kitchen is Bulthaup. So is Brad Pitt’s and Eric Clapton’s.)
“Last month, we came out with a new door face for refrigerators in bamboo veneer with an aluminum edge to the door face, to offer another option,” says Harold C. Skulte, Bulthaup’s design director.
“We also offer shot-blasted aluminum-fronted cabinets, which pick up less fingerprinting,” says Skulte. This finish absorbs light rather than reflects the light, he adds. “It gives the client a metallic finish without it having to be stainless steel. We’re also using a lot of combinations of aluminum and stainless steel. A lot of people are off on white today,” he adds. “It has a tendency to turn yellow over time.”
Frigo Design of Brewerton, N.Y., a leading manufacturer of custom-designed appliance frame and panel sets, custom tailors wood panel sets and frames that will allow for appliances to match the look and stain of new cabinetry or replicate the aged/weathered look of existing wood cabinets. The frames allow for the installation of wood panels on virtually every make and model of refrigerators ever built, as well as for trash compactors and freezers.
“Natural wood caters to a variety of tastes in kitchen decoration,” says Alan Isaacs, Frigo Design vice president of sales and marketing. “With the wide variety of woods, designs and stains that are available, homeowners are expressing their own individual style and personality in their kitchens.”
Customers who opt to have their wood panels made by their builder still will need to have a frame set that will enable the panels to be mounted on the appliance doors. Frame/trim sets are available in black, white, almond, biscuit and stainless finishes.
Where to buy
Here is information to find out more about refrigerators featured in the cover story:
– Bulthaup, 165 W. Chicago Ave., 312-787-9982. Bulthaup does not sell appliances separately but does offer alternative refrigerator-door treatments in their kitchen design/architecture services. Prices depend on complete kitchen design.
– Frigo Design, Brewerton, N.Y.; 800-836-8746, or visit www.FrigoDesign.com. Cost: Custom colors are $399 per kit, copper and stainless-steel overlay, $699.
– Jenn-Air Luxury Built-In Series, 800-JENN-AIR (800-5366-247); or visit www.Jennair.com. Cost: $5,500; panels for the refrigerator extra.
– KitchenAid’s Cobalt Blue series: $1,300 for top-and-bottom refrigerators, $1,600 for side-by-side at Abt Electronics and Appliances, 1200 N. Milwaukee Ave., Glenview; 847-967-8830. For more information, call KitchenAid at 800-422-1230visit www.Kitchenaid.com.
– Out of Context Inc., 43 Maple Ave., New City, N.Y.; 866-291-3055, or visit www.outofcontextdesigns.com. Cost of panels: $500 to $3,000; the sky’s the limit on custom pieces. Designs come ready to install on any standard appliance paneling.
— Mary Daniels
